The Challenge
Bath Christmas Market is one of the UK’s most popular festive events, featuring food and gift stalls across the city’s pretty Georgian streets.
The award-winning event, which took place from November 28 to December 15, 2019, also featured a food and drinks lodge and an ice skating rink.
The event organisers, Visit Bath, were looking for a new barrier system to keep the many thousands of visitors to the city’s 2019 Christmas Market safe.
They wanted to protect the crowds from errant and hostile vehicles, while allowing the free-flow of pedestrians and a rapid blue light route for emergencies.
They also needed the ability to remove the barrier easily each evening after the market had closed, allowing for deliveries without the need for machinery.
The Solution
As a multi award-winning manufacturer and supplier of protective barriers, Visit Bath contacted Hardstaff Barriers for assistance.
Hardstaff provided 48 lightweight Pitagone F18 Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM) barriers, which were installed in six locations on the perimeter of the market to protect the main carriageways.
Hardstaff also delivered on-site training in the equipment so that the Visit Bath security team could move and reinstall the barriers correctly themselves.
Pitagone F18, a tested solution recognised by the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI), can be deployed rapidly and is tailored to suit the length required, providing full protection against vehicle-borne attacks.
The Outcome
Bath Christmas Market 2019 was a great success and was enjoyed safely by many thousands of people over an 18-day period.
Hardstaff is proud to have played a part in the overall security of this popular festive event.
The Christmas Markets attract many visitors to the city each year, which is a huge economic benefit to Bath.
Mick Heath, Head of Events, at Visit Bath, said:
“As organisers of Bath Christmas Market, Visit Bath and Bath & North East Somerset Council face unique challenges operating within a UNESCO world heritage site. Our HVM solution had to both protect the public and World Heritage assets.
The combination of cobbled streets and regulated vehicle access requirements meant a flexible but robust solution was required.
PITAGONE F18 enabled us to operate safely but with the flexibility we needed. Hardstaff Barriers provided us with a professional service from planning to delivery and provided excellent support all the way through to the end of the event.”
Niall Griffin, General Manager, of Hardstaff Secure, said:
“Utilising Pitagone F18 enabled Hardstaff to deliver a product, train end users and ultimately provide a Hostile Vehicle Mitigation solution, which enabled Visit Bath to manage their own requirements on a daily basis, without additional stakeholder involvement, heavy plant or machinery.
“The lightweight and manageable product was ideal for the operational requirements set by the client, without being visually overbearing to those attending the market.”
Bath Christmas Market 2019
“Hardstaff Barriers provided us with a professional service from planning to delivery and provided excellent support all the way through to the end of the event.”Mick Heath, Visit Bath
The Hard Facts
- Bath Christmas Market is one of the UK’s most popular festive events
- The markets attract thousands of visitors to the city each year, which is a huge economic benefit to Bath
- Hardstaff provided 48 Pitagone F18 Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM) barriers to protect market-goers at the 2019 event
- The barriers were installed in six locations on the perimeter of the market to protect against vehicle-borne attacks
- Pitagone F18, a tested solution recognised by the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI), is lightweight and can be deployed and moved rapidly
